How much data influences the performances of teams in modern day cricket?

[Titan24]

Cricket just a couple of decades ago was arguably a lot more dependent upon raw skills of one team vs raw skills of another team and one player vs another player along with bit of luck spice. Of course, skills are still one of the key factors but its not a lone warrior as it used to be before and just having the most skillful 11 won't necessarily guarantee majority of the results in your favor. Just like technology and many other fields the game of cricket has evolved and its not about just the skills anymore rather data driven detailed understanding of the application of those skills in different scenarios, against different players and in different conditions which can make the difference.

With every team having analysts, a lot of data and even companies being formed in the cricketing world with the job of gathering that data and trying to extract information out of it shows how much it has grown over the years. From areas that have higher probability of being a successful target against specific bowlers to which areas to ball against a certain batsman everything can be derived from the numbers available now. From field settings to matchups every decision against a certain opposition or individual player can be extracted from data.

Of course you need players with certain skills to apply those things but, the teams which are good at such backroom homework provide their players and captain with much more than just the raw skills on the ground which in turn gives them more chance to be successful at the top level.

Teams like England, New Zealand and India have really improved as teams over the last decade and their own application of the overall game can be compared with the previous eras which will show that how much these teams have worked at the backend with the data, strategies and tactics to give their players as much useful information on the field as possible. No doubt that they have worked upon their grassroot cricket but, they obviously have adapted the changing environment of cricket better than some other teams. Such culture influences the individual players as well who are more inclined to think about their game in a more strategic manner.

While the backup players of the mentioned teams performing at the top level straight away more often than not gives indication of the talent depth but, more than that it also defines how the systems at the national level are in place overall where despite varying degree of skills the players coming into the team can straight away start adapting to the overall approach and application with the data based tactical approach available to them.

No doubt raw skills still is a big factor but, with the proper information fed to the team rather than noise can make even a slightly less skillful individual to get the job done if he can play those high probability shots against a certain bowler or consistently bowl those areas with higher chance of success against a particular batsmen as we have seen with some of the 2nd string players of some teams. In the previous eras, a bowler or batsmen might had to think on his feet from the start of the match till the end in terms of how to go about their business and the ability to understand the opposition in the field itself was also an important skill but, in modern day cricket players can already enter the ground with a lot of useful information which they can improvise as the match goes on.

The game of cricket overall has become a systematic one and having more information derived from proper use of data can certainly give an edge.

What do you guys think?

 

[JattMaula]

All other things being equal, data can and is a huge game changer. Still need people who can read and use it properly to make it relevant.

 

[Markhor]

I feel the lack of data driven planning is most apparent in our bowling. The two most high profile examples being not getting our right arm seamers bowling around the wicket to David Warner in 2019 and not bowling short to Chris Woakes in 2020.

If anything it should be easier for this generation's bowlers with so much data at their disposal. You know exactly how much a batsman averages against pace and spin, and against different lengths. The technology does the thinking and strategising for you so all you need to worry about is executing.

It seems the penny is finally starting to drop as we saw in the PCB Cricket Committee's statement before the South Africa home series, but Misbah/Waqar are very old school in their beliefs and still believe natural talent alone is sufficient to overwhelm the opposition.

 

[Major]

I think we assume that Pakistan dosen't use data when it comes to attacking opposition. Problem is our own biasness.

When 10 players are being bowled to with consideration to data and one player doesn't get bowled to the same. We take that one player example and base our conclusion while ignoring the fact that to get the otehr 10 or 9 out we relied upon the data research.

Pakistan team has had analysts with them. Islamabad United also keeps one or two with them.

Its about the captain and the bowler at the end of they day, whether he wants to go according to plan or just pull something off themselves.

 

[Hasan123]

It is a big thing. Teams are always looking at it. They want certain bowlers to bowl at certain batters and for bowlers to bowl certain lengths. For batters they will want them coming at a certain period due to data about strike rate or who is bowling at that period.

I think teams are over reliant on it sometimes. At times batters will come in later or bowlers will be saved and the game is dead when they come back on. At the end of the day,you want your best batters facing as many balls as possible especially in LO cricket. And you want to bowl your best bowler when you need a wicket or as an attacking move. No problem with data, just don’t like it being over used.

 

[MenInG]

Data, which is used in statistics-driven cricket to help in strategy and player selection, should drive a good contest, legendary former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid said.

“Cricket has always been statistically-driven like baseball, but over the past 15 years we have moved beyond comparing averages and now use data to help in strategy and player selection,” Dravid said during a panel discussion at the 15th MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

The first-ever panel discussion on cricket at the MIT conference titled "Howzdata- How Analytics is Revolutionizing Cricket" focused on how data analytics and machine learning are helping to bring advances to the game.

Former South Africa batsman and ex India coach Gary Kirsten and former England women's team player and currently a commentator Isa Guha were part of the panel discussion.

Topics ranged from how data is helping players train and stay fit to how scoring boundaries has changed team decisions, similar to basketball’s 3-point revolution, a media release said.

The panel highlighted how cricket players are using matchup to hit fours and sixes to win more T20 matches.

“The days are not far off when people are going to turn down a single because the matchup suites them to be able to hit a six in the two or three balls,” said Dravid.

While appreciating the role of analytics, the panel advised the use of relevant data to help improve performance and drive a good contest.

“Data should drive a good contest between bat and ball in cricket, not just for hitting fours and sixes,” said the former India captain.

Guha commented on how the T20 format has made every ball an event. She highlighted how younger players now have better access to technology to help them seek opposition players' profile and strategies to counter them.

As a broadcaster, Guha feels that level data for pre and post-match presentations is as good as what teams are using for their game-day preparations.

Kirsten talked about how data is only an enabler and said final decisions still have an element of uncertainty just like the unpredictable nature of the sport.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cric...orts-analytics-conference/article34278222.ece